FIFA 21 is one of the most fascinating ways to rank and compare football players.

When EA Sports sit down to create their flagship video game every year, they're faced with the daunting task of having to provide an objective rating for the biggest players in world football.

While it's not rocket science to say that Lionel Messi is better than Anthony Martial or Cristiano Ronaldo tops Xherdan Shaqiri, the finer details must still be incredibly hard to thrash out.

FIFA 21 ratings

When you're talking about players who you'd rank vaguely in the same tier as each other it must be pretty darn difficult to decide which of them has the edge.

Besides, we're not just talking about their overall ratings or even their FUT card stats, but the 29 in-game attributes that make up everything from the players and shooting to tackling and aggression.

We're not saying that EA Sport don't deserve from pointers for the much-maligned release of FIFA 21, but I think we can all cut them a little bit of slack when it comes to the impossibility of ratings.

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In-game FIFA attributes

Well, that's aside from rating Jordan Henderson above Paul Pogba, Timo Werner being downgraded and Romelu Lukaku failing to get an upgrade, but hey, that's an argument for another time.

Instead, today, we're focusing on the minutia of the FIFA 21 ratings and those fascinating in-game stats that give us some insight into what EA really thinks about the nature of each player's skillsets.

As a result, we've turned to the brilliant data mine at Futhead to discover who the most 'complete' footballers are on FIFA 21 by comparing the totals when all their in-game attributes are added up.

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FIFA 21's most complete players

We've already run this experiment across the Premier League with interesting results, but now the whole sport is going under the microscope, so check out how the global top 25 turned out:

25. Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund)

24. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

23. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)

22. Marcelo (Real Madrid)

21. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

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20. Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain)

19. Sergej Milinković-Savić (Lazio)

18. Aleksandar Kolarov (Inter Milan)

17. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

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16. Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich)

15. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

14. Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund)

13. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

12. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

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11. Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)

10. Radja Nainggolan (Inter Milan)

9. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

8. Alex Telles (Manchester United)

7. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

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6. Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao)

5. Marcos Acuna (Sevilla)

4. Arturo Vidal (Barcelona)

3. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)

2. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

1. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 

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De Bruyne takes top spot

An interesting result, no? It's worth saying that midfielders have a distinct advantage here with their mix of attacking and defensive attributes meaning there are fewer weak points sagging their totals.

But it's fascinating to note that the top two finishers in the Premier League are also the gold and silver medalists globally as well as arguably being United and City's best players.

Messi, who is the highest-rated player on the game, sneaks his way into the top 20 with some glorious attacking stats and his eternal rival Ronaldo brings up the rear four places behind.

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That, and those familiar with FIFA stats won't be at all surprised to see Vidal throwing his weight around in the top ten once again as well as fellow Barcelona alumni in the form of Paulinho.

So, the next time you turn on your games console or PC, perhaps it's best to bear in mind that these 25 players, for all their faults and strengths, are the most complete when it comes to FIFA 21.